Five Tech Issues CEOs Should Worry About

ROBERT PLANT: CEOs are constantly juggling what they consider truly pressing issues on many levels, some real, some perceived. One issue is technology; they are fearful that they are the frog in the metaphorical tech saucepan, where the temperature increase is gradual enough that they don’t jump out, but that this effect, will in the end lead to their demise. However, if they consider that technology is in fact a thread that links several other pivotal areas of concern, they may feel more in control over this seemingly invisible hand.
The first of the related issues is security. It is highly unlikely that any company in the world has not in recent years been subject to a breach, by agents of state or for-profit hackers.

The second issue is to cloud or to not cloud. CEOs worry that moving to the cloud will cause increased risk from hackers and loss of control.
The third concern is data. Specifically, Big Data; CEOs understand that there is a paradigm shift under way, but like an ancient mariner heading out from port, they are concerned about where this voyage will lead, discovery of a new world with riches or will they fall off the edge.

The fourth issue is human capital. Technology has replaced humans on the assembly line; removed people from semiskilled jobs such as call centers and is currently sublimating the middle management ranks.

Finally, the fifth issue is gaining visibility into the future of technology. CEOs know that the world is not flat and that technology is the magma that moves the global tectonic plates, understanding the direction technology is going to take is key to successfully aligning their firm with the flow.

As such, CEOs should focus more on business technology and the tacit issues to which it is linked, gaining a “fivefecta” in the process and helping them avoid the frog’s fate.

Robert Plant (@drrobertplant) is an associate professor at the School of Business Administration, University of Miami, in Coral Gables, Fla.